$30M Arcade restoration will begin early next year

Dayton Arcade LLC completed the purchase of the Dayton Arcade on Wednesday, May 6. People gathered inside the rotunda for a press conference. Staff photo by Ty Greenlees

Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer Dayton Arcade LLC completed the purchase of the Dayton Arcade on Wednesday, May 6. People gathered inside the rotunda for a press conference. Staff photo by Ty Greenlees

ENLARGE PHOTO

Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer

ENLARGE PHOTO

The Dayton Arcade was purchased by LLC partners Gunther Burg and Wendell Strutz from Plymouth, Wisconsin at a Montgomery County Sheriff's Sale on Thursday, March 12.

Staff photo by Ty Greenlees The Dayton Arcade was purchased by LLC partners Gunther Burg and Wendell Strutz from Plymouth, Wisconsin at a Montgomery County Sheriff's Sale on Thursday, March 12.

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By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 11:09 PM Wednesday, May 6, 2009

DAYTON —The new owners of the historic downtown Arcade say restoration of the five-building complex comes first. Details of how the nearly 250,000 square feet of space will be reused will come later.

“People expect us to know everything. We don’t have all the answers right now,” said Gunther Berg, who, with partner Wendell Strutz, bought the Arcade at a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Tax Lien Sale on March 12. “We want to be creative. The most important thing is to keep history alive.”

Identifying what will fill the Arcade isn’t Berg’s top priority, at least not for now. Saving and restoring the 1904-era treasure is.

“Our first investment was to connect at the heart level with the arcade. Our second step was acquiring it. Now, it’s time to really get serious and execute a plan,” he said.

The men from Plymouth, Wis., were in Dayton on Wednesday, May 6, to pay off the $614,000 balance owed on the complex of five buildings.

“Nothing is better than seeing a dream come true,” said Berg, who discovered the Arcade was for sale on eBay about eight months ago.

The city of Dayton’s Economic Development staff say they are eager to see what the partners have planned for the landmark.

“(The Arcade) means a great deal to downtown, because of it’s location, because of what was once there and the emotional attachment Daytonians have for the space,” said Timothy Downs, Dayton’s deputy director of economic development. “Anyone who has a plan to redevelop it certainly gets our attention and depending on the plan, also our support.”

Berg said he intends to be on a flight to Germany next week to finalize financing for the estimated $30 million project.

Strutz expects work on the Arcade to begin early in 2010. From start to finish, the project will take at least three years.

“We still are amazed each day about how many positive people there are in Dayton regarding our project and downtown Dayton as a whole,” Strutz said.

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